Honest, Yet Bias Buff on Whisky

agreed

True, losing Combat Rhythm would lower early game DPS a bit. But getting pushed out of lane lowers it by a lot more.

Another option would be to rearrange the helix tree and put Regen earlier. But it seems easier to just swap that two.

Maybe 10% damage increase (perhaps a bit less) would be acceptable.
Speed up reload and skill animations and he will be golden.